A Review - 9 Years Later...

Whilst vanity searching for myself online (don't judge me you fucks, you do it too), I ran into this review of the last show that I did in Lexington, KY, before moving to Chicago. The show was "Hamlet" and I played Horatio. And I got a very nice mention that I didn't know existed, until I read the review, just now.

Check it out.
(You can view the original here.)

Nothing rotten in this Denmark
Thursday, July 08, 1999

Robert Quan
SCENE EDITOR

Watching this year's Hamlet, it's easy to remember what a pleasure good Shakespeare can be. Even during a dress rehearsal, the production value is nearly seamless. The interpretation and direction are both excellent, and the lighting is superb.

Of all the works in the Shakespearean canon, Hamlet stands among the most widely known and quoted plays. It's not the bloodiest or most romantic, and certainly not the most fanciful, but it represents one of Shakespeare's most thematically strong works.

A theme of murder, revenge, love, the loyalties of friendship, the loyalties of family and questioning the futility of existence, are evident. It's all interwoven into the two- plus hours running time the plot is squeezed into.

For this year's show at the arboretum, the stage has been expanded. Simply put, it looks good, no question. It's roomy enough for the cast to take full advantage of the duel scene at the end and work with the vigorous physicality that's called for in certain scenes.

The actors all fit their roles. They anguish, they fight, and the morbid pace of the scenes completely fits the ambiance of the play.

Director Joe Ferrel stays in touch with the weirdly wonderful nature of this work. With Hamlet, the "no frills" approach comes off the best. Everything, from the skit put on within the play to the final duel is simple and easy to follow.

Kevin Hardesty, as Hamlet, while a touch older than the role, is riveting. There is nothing overwrought about this Hamlet, no unnecessary caterwauling or yelling to convey Hamlet's little torments. It's that deep, brooding voice and command of the physical environment which makes the role come alive. Hamlet is a passive-aggressive, borderline sociopath, and the quieter, intense approach hits the mark.

The interaction and chemistry between Hamlet and Horatio, played by "Mr.B", holds enough gravity to make the play worth seeing.

Alicia Mantia captures Ophelia's irritating meekness wonderfully. Tom Phillips, as Laertes, is suitably dashing and wounded. Polonius, played by Walter Tunis, toes the line of interpretation between the fumbling busybody and the sinister old man, never embracing either interpretation fully, but smoothly rotating between the two. And he still manages to keep it convincing.

Along with Macbeth and a Midsummer Night's Dream, it's one of the "must sees" on a stage with a good cast and director. Reading it just doesn't compare to seeing Hamlet come alive in all that .

I actually really enjoyed working on that show. I was very close friends with Kevin, the actor who played Hamlet in the show. He was the most popular actor in Lexington at the time. (He might still be, but I don't keep up with those circles anymore.) Alicia, who played Ophelia, was a good friend of mine. She and I went to Western KY University together and she actually introduced me to Kevin, in the first place. I have many happy memories of my summers spent at Kevin's house.

Working on this show was a pleasure. Originally, I'd auditioned for Laertes, but the director had the good sense to cast me as Horatio, seeing a kindness and gentility in me that I, myself, did not see. (I soooooo wanted to be the badass and do that fight scene at the end.) I was pleased to discover that Horatio was a very important character to the show. He's present at some of the key scenes of the play. He introduces Hamlet to the ghost of his father. Hamlet is talking to Horatio when he mourns the death of Yorick, the jester. Horatio witnesses the play within the play and is privy to Hamlet's intention. And he gives the final speech of the play, sending Hamlet off with the "flights of angels". An anguishing speech.

The "chemistry" between Kevin and I that the article mentioned was our very real affection for each other. Sometimes, in real life, I felt like Horatio to his Hamlet. Working on the show, I was treated like a professional actor and storyteller. My opinions were welcomed and my input was used in my scenes. And we found a natural, live performance that really serviced Shakespeare's text.

One of my college mentors came and saw the show in the Arboretum, in Lexington. After the show, I found her and her husband out in the house. She was collecting herself, because the finale had gotten to her and she had wept openly at Hamlet's tragic death. She hugged me and said, "Craig and I have seen this show a million times. We've even seen it in London and on Broadway. I didn't think it was possible, but your show was so natural, so raw, so well-performed that you really got to me. I didn't think I would ever cry at the end of Hamlet again, but you really got me." and she hugged me and I hugged her back. It was one of the kindest things that anyone has ever said to me. Nine years later, I can remember where we were standing when she said that and what she said. It meant that much to me.

Curtain.

Cheers,
Mr.B


Kevin Hardesty as "Hamlet" in the summer of 1999.

POSTSCRIPT: I just read online that the Lexington Shakespeare Festival closed in the summer of 2006. And that the year that I was there, in 1999, was the two year zenith of the Festival's attendance, with audiences of 2,000 people each night. (I do remember that our audience was huge. The largest I'd ever played for up until that show.) Audience attendance slacked off in the later years and the festival's organizers eventually decided to cut it loose. They'd been running it since 1982. So, they get definite credit for running a successful organization for 24 years. It's sad, though, to know that it's not happening anymore.